Sweater Weather
by ohheyitslylah
Summary: There's a secret hiding under all of Mabel's colorful sweaters, and what will she do when her whole family finds out? Get help from a dream demon, of course. *Rated T for containing self-harm.*
1. Sibling Bond

**So, this is my first story on this account (I had another FF account when I was obsessed with Danny Phantom, but we don't talk about those dark times in 8** **th** **grade).**

 **In this story, we find out exactly what Mabel is covering up with all those colorful sweaters.**

 **Warning/Disclaimer: This story contains self-harm, so trigger warning to those who are sensitive about it. I, sadly, do not own Gravity Falls or any of the characters mentioned, and if I did, I probably would be writing episodes rather than fanfics.**

 **This fic isn't really sad or tragic, just…sweet, in a way. You'll see once you read.**

 **Enjoy!**

"Hey, Mabel," Dipper called out to his twin as he stuffed some of his belongings into his pine tree backpack. "Great Uncle Ford and I are going out to go study the gnomes. Wanna tag along?"

"And be recaptured to be throned as Mrs. Mabel Gnome? I'm good," she said with a recalling cringe.

Dipper laughed. "You know that wouldn't happen with me and Ford." He tucked Journal #2 inside his vest pocket, along with a pad of paper and a couple of chewed up pens. He turned to his sister. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she reassured him. "I have karaoke practice with Waddles anyway. Maybe I can get Grunkle Stan to join us…"

He chuckled. "Alright." He turned and started to head out the door when he realized something. He paused for a moment to place his thoughts in order. "Wait," he turned to Mabel. "Waddles is at the vet's. He got scratched up real bad by that pterodactyl, remember?" He looked at her suspiciously.

"Oh, uh.." she stammered. "Yeah, Soos and I are going to pick him up today. We should have him by the time you come back…"

 _Soos is working on fixing the leaks in the roof all day,_ Dipper thought to himself as he scratched his head. _She's been acting really strange lately. Maybe I should let it go for now…_ "Alright," he went along with her story. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Later, Mystery Twin!" She waved excitedly from the bed. "Capture a gnome for me! Show 'em who's boss!" She called after him as he walked out the door with a grin and a returning wave, shutting it behind him.

Mabel's giddy smile faded as soon as he shut the door, enclosing her in the small attic with nothing else but her own thoughts. Thoughts about her failures, and then Dipper's successes. Thoughts about how _he_ was always the one to go on missions with Ford, because everybody loved Dipper. She wished she could be remotely close to being as smart and victorious as him.

Wiping a single tear off her cheek as she mentally tore herself down, she hopped off the bed and reached for her wooden box underneath it. She opened it, and sadly smiled at its contents. The light from the window reflected off of her knife she had taken from Soos. It was more effective than a pencil sharpener blade, she had decided when she first started her gory habit about a month ago.

She pulled the left sleeve of her sweater up. _Just a few…_ she thought to herself. She closed her eyes; the sensation was stronger that way. She held it up to her forearm, but hesitated; she thought about Dipper. She thought about how oblivious he was about why she wore sweaters throughout the hot and humid summer of Oregon. She thought about how he would feel if he ever found out…

With a violent shake of her head, she forced the opposing thoughts out of her mind and drew the blade across her skin out of impulse, calming herself down. She felt the corner of her eyes start to slightly burn as she let silent tears roll down her face. The feeling was overwhelming to her, yet satisfying. She did it again. And again.

Her eyes naturally gazed around the room when she saw a brown backpack with a blue pine tree print on it sitting by the door. At first she thought nothing of it, as she saw it lying around all the time, before her eyes opened wide in realization. _Dipper forgot his backpack…He's going to be back to get it._ She panicked. Without bothering to clean it off, she hurriedly tossed her open knife back in her box and shoved it back under the bed, right as Dipper walked in the room.

"Hey Mabel," he greeted while glancing around the room for his bag. "I left my backpack somewhere around here. Have you seen-," he looked over at his sister sitting tensely on the bed and sensed that something was very, very wrong. "Hey, are you okay?"

"What? I'm totally fine!" She said with a surprisingly convincing smile on her face. "Look down beside you, dummy!"

He ignored her comment and made his way over to her. She shifted uncomfortably. "What?" she asked innocently. Dipper eyed her suspiciously as his eyes caught small yet thick red lines seeping through her pink sweater sleeve. "…What's that?"

She looked down at her sleeve as her heart began to beat faster. She suddenly felt light-headed. "Oh, uh, grappling hook accident. You know me, klutzy old Mabel!" She said with a silly face. She forced a laugh, although she could tell Dipper didn't buy it.

"Can I see?"

Her heart beat faster as she felt her face heat up from her nervousness. "Why? It's just a couple scratches. I'm okay."

Dipper looked her dead in the eyes, making it clear that he wasn't joking around. "Mabel," he said sternly. "Let me see your arm."

"No."

Dipper was taken aback by her immediate response. He paused for a second. "Does Grunkle Stan know something's going on?" he rhetorically asked her. "If not, maybe he should." He turned around and slowly walked towards the door, giving her time to fess up.

"Dipper." He turned around to face her to see her halfway buried in Sweater Town with her eyes welling up in tears. He looked her in the eye and she immediately broke down.

Dipper ran over to his sister and sat next to her, holding her close. "Mabel, just tell me what's going on," he pleaded, starting to tear up himself.

She looked down at her sleeve as Dipper's eyes followed her gaze. He looked at her gently before cautiously taking ahold of the end of her sweater. He slowly started to roll it up, inch by inch, before he saw the red lines of blood deep in her skin. He was frozen with shock. "Oh, Mabel…" He looked up at her to see her hiding her face from him, but knew she was crying. He couldn't help himself; he started breaking down in tears. Mabel looked up at him in surprise.

"How could you do this to yourself, Mabel?" he asked her demandingly. "Don't you know how much I care about you!?" He wiped tears away from his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. He took a breath. "How long have you been doing this?"

She hesitated before answering. "About a month…" She said with guilt in her voice. "I'm sorry, Dipper. I didn't want you to find out."

Dipper had a moment of realization. "This is why you always wear the sweaters, isn't it?"

Without looking him in the eye, she solemnly nodded her head.

"I knew it."

Mabel looked at him, confused. "What? What do you mean you knew?"

"Mabel, you're my twin sister, I know you better than anybody. I know when something is wrong. I just didn't know it was this bad…Show me your other arm."

She reluctantly lifted up her other sleeve, revealing scars up and down, with a little bit of crusty, dried blood on some of them. Dipper started to tear up again. He looked back up at her. "Why?"

"I'll never be anything like you are," she bitterly replied. Her instant response took Dipper by surprise. "You're like the perfect kid," she continued. "I'll never be as smart as you or as pretty as Pacifica. I'm just a dork. I'm silly and stupid, and where is that gonna get you in this world?" She looked down sadly at her arms and traced a particularly larger scar with her finger. "Nowhere. I have no reason _not_ to do this." She sniffed. "It's not like it really matters anyway."

Silence. She looked up at Dipper to see him looking at her angrily, yet sympathetically, and looked as if he was going to start scolding her. Instead, he grabbed her and pulled her close to him, letting her head rest on his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in this shirt, letting it soak up her tears. She felt a teardrop fall on her cheek and realized Dipper was crying for her as well.

"Doesn't matter?" He repeated whilst stroking her hair. "You really think something like this wouldn't matter?"

She lifted her head up to look up at him but didn't respond.

"To see you hurt yourself like this hurts me just as bad. Seeing those scars tear me apart. You really think that doesn't matter to me?" She opened her mouth as if to say something but he cut her off. "What about Grunkle Stan? He loves both of us like our parents never have. What do you think he would do if he saw those cuts on your arms?"

Mabel had nothing to say, and fell silent. So Dipper continued. "I don't see what you don't like about yourself. Yeah, you're not me, and you're not Pacifica, and you never will be, because you're someone so much better. You're Mabel Pines. You're the girl who puts a smile on everybody's face. You're the girl who lights up a room just by walking through the door. Heck, you're the only person I know who can become pen-pals with the pizza delivery guy in under a minute!" She chuckled at that last part, and Dipper was glad to see her smile again.

Dipper rubbed the back of his neck before proceeding with what he was about to admit. "Honestly, Mabel…I've always been kind of jealous of you."

She looked at him curiously. "Jealous…of me? But why?"

"You're a person magnet. You talk to someone and they automatically want to be around you, meanwhile I mess up my own name when I try to talk to a girl," he rolled his eyes with a smirk as Mabel giggled at the memory of that awkward day. "Yeah, I've got the smarts," he continued, "but you've got everything else; you're sweet, funny, strong, _and_ you're smart, even if you don't believe it. And, frankly, it's a shame to watch you do this to yourself."

She perked up her ears at him as he said, "You're a beautiful girl, Mabel, and I love you. I'm proud to call you my twin." He smiled a genuine smile at her, but it faded as he looked down and held onto her arm. "But this-", he motioned to the cuts, "-this needs to stop. I'm serious."

Mabel took back her arm and rubbed her cuts. "I'm sorry, Dipper," she said, ashamed. "It was selfish of me, I know; I should've thought of everybody I would be hurting. I won't do it again, I promis-"

She barely finished her sentence before she found herself wrapped tightly in Dipper's arms. "Thank you, Mabel," he said while hugging her tightly. "You have no idea how much I care about you, I can't lose you. Ever. I love you, Mabel."

She paused before responding with, "I love you, too, Dipper. I don't know what I'd do without you."

They kept hugging for a few seconds longer before they let go of each other, wiping the sentimental tears away from their eyes.

Dipper then suddenly asked her what she had hoped he wouldn't. "Where do you keep your blades?"

With a sigh, Mabel answered honestly. "I keep them under the bed, in a wooden box. You'll see it," she said as Dipper jumped down to peek underneath the bed and sure enough, there was the box Mabel had described. Dipper took it in both hands and opened it up, gasping at what was inside. First he closed the bloody knife that was at the top, shooting Mabel an accusing look. "I'd know that knife anywhere. You stole from Soos?"

She twiddled her thumbs in shame. "I was desperate."

Dipper sighed. "You're lucky I won't tell him about this." He tucked the knife away in his pocket and looked back inside, spotting some band-aids, a few gauze pads, some tape, and disinfectant cloths. He turned to Mabel. "Let's get you cleaned up," he said, opening the cloth and rolling up her sleeve. He gently patted her arm at the open wounds, wiping the blood away, her slightly wincing at the minor burn. He then opened up the band-aids and placed them over the small cuts, while putting the gauze pad on the open ones, carefully wrapping her arm up in the tape. He looked up at her when she was done and she smiled. "Thanks, Dipper," she said gratefully.

He smiled back and made sure all blades were out of the box before closing it and placing it back in its spot underneath the bed. He stood up, and held out his hand to her. "Since you won't be needing these anymore, I'm going to go throw them in the bottomless pit. Care to join me?"

Mabel smiled and nodded in agreement. She took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet before heading out the bedroom door. They walked downstairs together, almost past Great Uncle Ford, who was waiting on Dipper by small talking with his twin brother. He saw them pass by, and called to Dipper.

"Dipper! Are we still on for today, son?" he asked excitedly, holding one of the journals in his hand with a big grin on his face.

"Sure thing, Uncle Ford, but first, Mabel and I need to take care of some business. We'll be right back!" he called behind his shoulder as he and his sister walked out the door.

They walked shoulder-to-shoulder on the woodsy trail to the infamous bottomless pit. They walked in silence, as they both were caught up in their own thoughts. Mabel was thinking about how she had no idea how much her brother cared for her, and how lucky she was for that. She swore to herself that she would never do anything to hurt him. While Dipper, on the other hand, was only blaming himself for his sisters' actions.

 _This is all my fault. If only I'd have been more caring of a brother and paid more attention to her, she wouldn't be feeling so low of herself. I swear, from this point on, I will do everything I can to take care of her._ He looked over to Mabel admiring the birds chirping in the trees and smiled to himself. _I promise I'll make you happy, Mabel,_ he silently vowed to her.

Eventually they reached the pit. They slowly walked up towards it, and peered into the empty abyss. They exchanged looks, and Mabel gave him a determined smile and nodded, assuring him that she was ready. "Let's do this."

He handed her one of the blades, and left the other in his own hand. They joined hands – Mabel squeezing Dipper's hand for support – and in sync, threw them down the deep, dark hole, never to be seen again.

They stood in silence for a few moments, before Dipper broke it by clearing his throat, then said, "Thank you for doing this for me, Mabel. I know it probably wasn't an easy thing to do."

"Actually, I thought it would be hard, but I feel a lot better now. I don't need to be doing that anyway, especially when I'm not the only one that I'm hurting," she gave him an appreciative smile, silently thanking him for making her realize how much people care. "Thanks for looking out for me, bro." She tackled him in a totally non-awkward sibling hug, and he returned the hug with a smile.

They let go after a minute, and then Dipper came back with his previous offer. "So, you sure you don't wanna come along with me and Ford? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Actually…Sure. I'll go. I could use some time with the family."

Dipper smiled at her response, and gently took her hand in his. "Great! Let's go!" He led her back down the trail in which they came, preparing to go on yet another adventure together.

 **Yeah, this is kind of a personal fic. But I like how it turned out, I hope everyone else does too. Review please? :) I would greatly appreciate it, especially for my first story.**

 **You'll definitely see me on here in the near future!**

 **-Lyles**


	2. Relapse

**So, I actually decided to add on to this fic, since I currently have no other ideas for new stories and I've been in the writing mood lately. I have a couple ideas for a few more chapters, so if anyone actually reads this, look forward to that :)**

 **So we got a little Wendy/Mabel bonding in this chapter. They need some quality girl time, don'tcha think? Then somebody else gets into the picture.**

 **Disclaimer: Like before, this mentions self-harm, so once again, trigger warning. I don't own Gravity Falls or the characters, the awesome man Alex Hirsch is responsible for this amazing show.**

 **Hope you like it. :D**

Mabel sat quietly in her room, itching at her arm in frustration. It's been two whole weeks since her last episode; two weeks since Dipper found out about her…problem. Ever since then, he's been on her butt about how she was and what she was doing day to day. _"What are you doing, Mabel? Where are you going, Mabel? Can I come with you? Why aren't you eating much, Mabel? Are you going to the bathroom, Mabel?"_ Part of her was appreciative about how much her brother cared for her and wanted to help her through recovery, but part of her was also very irritated about not getting any privacy…ever.

She looked over at Dipper, who was on the floor making additions to two of the journals written by their uncle, unaware that Waddles was chewing on the cover of the other one that was sitting on the floor beside him. Mabel bit her lip, trying to stifle a laugh, and waited for him to realize what Waddles was doing.

After a few minutes, Mabel finally decided to drop him a hint. "Uh, Dipper?"

"Mhm," he mumbled back, not bothering to look up.

"Your journal?"

He glanced over to his book and saw what Waddles was doing. "No!" he yelled, and started playing an involuntary game of tug-o-war to get it back. "Mabel, get your pig!" he called out to her as he was trying to rip the journal out of Waddles surprisingly strong grip between his teeth.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Don't call him a pig, pig! He's part of the family, too!"

Dipper gave her a half-eyed look that clearly said, 'Seriously, Mabel?' He sighed as she called him over to the bed with her. "Don't listen to him, Waddles," she said to her pet as he jumped in her lap and snuggled into her sweater. "He's just jealous of all the attention you get."

Dipper scoffed. "Yeah, sure," he said as he grabbed the damaged book. He examined it closely before saying, "Great, it's basically ruined. Thanks, Waddles," he sarcastically said as he picked at the broken cover of the book. Waddles snorted proudly at his achievement.

"I'm gonna go downstairs to show the damage to Ford. I'll be right back," he told his sister as he got up and left the room, leaving the door wide open. She listened to him run downstairs in a hurry, and heard him tumble down at the last few steps. "I'm okay!" he called up as Mabel quietly laughed at him.

She sat there stroking Waddles as she waited for Dipper's return. "It's okay, Waddles," she reassured him. "You're just a silly little fella. He'll forgive you…eventually."

She heard her brother's footsteps stomping back upstairs and sensed that he was a little ticked off. He stepped in the room with an irritated look on his face and said, "Well, it looks like we have to go to the bookshop in town to get the binding stitched back up, at least that's what Ford said." He picked up the other journal on the floor and placed it on the shelf. "Wanna come?"

"No, I'm fine," she replied. "I should stay here and comfort Waddles. You hurt his feelings."

"Oh, whatever," he said back. "You gonna be okay here by yourself?"

With a roll of her eyes, Mabel said, "Yes Dipper, I'll be just fine. You go on." She watched as Dipper stuck the journal in its usual spot inside his inner vest pocket. "Alright," he said. "I'll probably be back in an hour or so." He glanced around the room to make sure he didn't need anything else, and walked to the door when he decided that he didn't. "I'll see you later," he said over his shoulder.

"Bye," she said with a wave, as he walked out without shutting the door.

"Dipper, come back! You left the door open!" she called out to him.

No answer. She let out an annoyed sigh as she heard the front door of The Mystery Shack slam shut and heard the car engine rev up a minute later. She looked down at Waddles and said, "Hey, Waddles. Go shut the door for me."

The pig hopped off the bed and ran right past the door, scampering downstairs before his owner could catch him. Mabel held back an irritated growl. "You're of no use," she said to nobody.

Mabel sat there for a few minutes, twiddling her thumbs, not sure what she should do next. It was always so boring around The Shack without Dipper to keep her company, and Waddles walked out on her, leaving her nothing to do but to think to herself.

Mabel hated being alone sometimes. When Dipper was there – yeah, he's been constantly getting on her nerves lately – but at least he gave her some sort of distraction. When she was alone, though, that's when she realized why Dipper didn't like leaving her by herself. When she was alone, that's when the urges always came back.

She picked at a loose thread on her unicorn sweater sleeve, which was starting to wear out from her wearing it so often. She's been good at resisting the urges, as she's always able to find some way to entertain herself, but some days were harder than others. Right now, all she knew is that she needed to find something to do quick, before she did something she knows she'd regret. She couldn't break her promise to Dipper. She wouldn't.

She gave herself an idea. _Maybe I can go hang out with Wendy_. She hopped off the bed and made her way towards the door. _She's probably slacking off, like usual_ , she thought while skipping down the steps. She turned a few corners only to find an abandoned cash register with a "Be Back Soon" sign in front of it, although Mabel knew that Wendy most likely wouldn't be coming back.

She sighed and looked up to the ceiling, when she saw a small crack in the roof that was attached to a ladder at the bottom.

Her curiosity and boredom got the best of her. She gripped the railing of the ladder and pulled herself up, climbing to the top. She peeked her head through the opening and looked to her left to see Wendy chillin' out with a can of Pitts Cola, her legs dangling off the edge. She looked so carefree, Mabel thought. She wished she could just be one with the world like that.

Mabel unstably pushed herself up on top, causing Wendy to turn around at the noise of two little feet losing their balance on the steep roof. "Oh, hey, Mabel," she greeted her friend casually as she took a sip of her drink. "What's up?"

Carefully, Mabel steadied herself on the roof and walked towards Wendy, plopping down beside her. "Not much," she said back as she accepted the drink Wendy handed her from the cooler. She popped it open, gulping down almost half the can in one go. "Jeez," Wendy said, watching her, impressed. "Thirsty much?"

"You have no idea," Mabel said back while wiping her mouth off with her now stained sweater sleeve. To her surprise she belched loudly; she and Wendy both laughed.

"Bet I can beat ya," Wendy challenged her.

"You're on!"

At the same time, they both started swallowing their sodas in a hurry, trying to beat each other. Mabel burped again, even louder than before, and startled herself.

But Wendy had her beat. " _BLEGGHH!_ " She let it escape, and neither of them could stop laughing when they saw the birds fly away from the noise.

"You scared the birds away!" Mabel said in between laughter. "Nice one. That was possibly the manliest burp I ever heard you make!"

"I take pride in my gift." She looked down at Mabel and grinned before the beeper on her watch started going off. She groaned.

"Ugh. I gotta head back down there before Stan comes back from his 30 minute magazine break in the bathroom. …And yes, I time him," she added after Mabel gave her a questioning look. "I'm a professional slacker, remember?"

Mabel gave her a sad smile. She wished Wendy didn't have to go; she didn't want to be alone. But she didn't really have a choice now. "Alright," she agreed. "I'll stay up here for a while."

The teen gave her a small salute goodbye and opened the hatch in the roof. Mabel watched her disappear back into The Shack by basically jumping her way in, and heard a loud thud afterwards.

Now by herself once again, Mabel sighed. She looked up at the sky, hoping to find some clouds to create into imaginary forms, but saw it was a clear day. She rubbed her arm again; she hated to admit it – and she never would out loud – but she missed the cutting. She missed the feeling of the cold knife against her skin, whether it was on her arms, stomach, or thighs (Dipper didn't know about the last two places and she planned on keeping it that way), then the relief after she finished the job. It calmed her down, decreased her stress, and although she was proud that she was two weeks clean, that didn't mean she didn't crave it sometimes…well, more often than not.

She sat there on the roof, looking over her property like a hawk. Her eyes caught on something shiny sitting on the roof, reflecting light from the sun. She crawled on her hands and knees over to the object, and found it being a jagged shard of glass. She looked around to find the source of this glass, and saw it came from the broken window of her and Dipper's room that was probably from her grappling hook.

She sighed. _It's like the universe is tempting me_ , she thought to herself. She looked down at the glass, fiddling with it in her fingers, when the edge of it pricked the side of her finger on accident. She winced, but not because of the pain, but because she hadn't felt that…feeling for a while. The feeling she's been longing for.

She was debating, seriously debating. _I have to resist this for Dipper_ , she told herself. _I can't do this. I can't. I won't._

She did. She couldn't resist it. Usually the little voice in her head changed her mind about giving in, but this time it was on her side, telling her that it wasn't a big deal.

She held the blade to her wrist, and slowly started to drag it across. She gasped; she wasn't expecting the amount of burn from this. When she used her knife, surprising, it wasn't this sharp. But, no matter how much it stung, it still took care of the urges. They were small, but they were enough.

She knew what she was doing to Dipper, but in that moment she didn't care. All she was thinking about was her relief when she-

"Mabel?"

Mabel gasped and spun her head around at the voice, making sure to hide her arm beside her legs. It was Wendy, looking at her with curiosity on her face. She must have climbed up here without Mabel hearing her.

"Oh hey, Wendy! What are you doing up here? I thought you had to go back to work," she nervously rambled.

"Business was slow, Stan let me off early…What are you doing?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Everything okay?"

"Of course!"

Wendy eyed her up and down, making mental notes to herself. Mabel gave her a tense smile and added a small chuckle to convince her nothing was wrong.

Wendy played it off cool, or that's what she made Mabel think. "Alright," she shrugged. "If you say so." She walked to the hole in the roof, and climbed down the steps halfway, but still peeking her head over just enough to see what Mabel was doing.

"That was close," Mabel mumbled to herself. She looked at the shard of glass, which had a little of blood on the edges, and shoved it in her pocket, trying to be careful not to rip her skirt. Then she lifted her sleeve back up to examine the damage she did. They were superficial cuts, but still enough. She rubbed them over with her thumb. "I should probably go back down before Dipper comes back," she thought aloud. She stood up and turned around to see Wendy staring her down, her arms crossed and a slightly angry look on her face.

"I knew something was up! You really think I'm that naïve, Mabel?"

Mabel said the first thing that was on her mind. "Please don't tell Dipper!" She pleaded. "I promised him I wouldn't do it again."

"Then why did you do it?"

Mabel didn't have a reply, and only shrugged. Wendy thought for a moment, still eyeing Mabel up and down. They then heard the distant rumble of an engine before they saw Dipper and Ford returning from their trip. They parked in the yard, and Mabel backed up so she wouldn't be seen by them. She looked back at Wendy.

"Wendy, please," she begged her not to tell her secret.

Wendy, paused, then gave a slight nod. "Alright," she said. "I won't tell Dipper."

"Thank you, Wendy," she said, and went to embrace her in a huge. Wendy, however, wasn't up for it. She stepped away from Mabel before she could get to her. "Yep," was all she gave her, with slight disappointment in her voice. She walked to the roof and jumped down back into The Shack.

 _That was kind of weird…_ Mabel thought. _I hope she doesn't start acting different now that she knows._

Before Dipper and Ford had made it inside, Mabel was already climbing down the steps to the ladder, entering the empty shop. She wondered where everybody went; neither Wendy nor Stan were anywhere to be seen. That's when the bell of the front door rang, indicating the entrance of her uncle and her brother.

"Hey, Mabel, we're back," Dipper said gleefully, walking up to her.

"Hey! Did you get the book fixed?"

With a broad grin, Dipper held the repaired journal in front of him; she could tell he was excited.

"Great! Now you can do more nerd things!"

Dipper's giddy smile faded into a sarcastic smirk, and Mabel laughed.

"Well, Ford and I are gonna do some more _nerd things_ down in the basement," he said with an amused chuckle. "I'll be down there if you need me!" he said as Ford entered the code to the vending machine and they soon disappeared downstairs.

Mabel decided there was nothing else for her to do, and headed back up to the attic. As she approached the doorway, however, she spotted Wendy around the corner and saw her talking to somebody she couldn't see, and could barely hear their voice, but she looked serious, and slightly determined. Mabel observed and thought it probably wasn't a good conversation, and ignored it to make her way to her room.

She walked inside her room and shut her door behind her, and decided that she wanted to add more decorations to her scrapbook. She grabbed it from the bookshelf and sat down on the floor next to Waddles, who somehow got inside the room. She smiled and pet him as she opened the book to a random page, which happened to be the picture she took of everyone; her, Dipper, and Wendy with all her friends. Everyone was smiling – even Robbie. She smiled at the memory of that day. It was so much fun; but then again, all of the days of summer that she got to spend with her friends and family were fun.

She was reminiscing in her pictures when she heard a faint knock on the door. "Come in!" she called to whoever.

The door creaked open and Grunkle Stan entered the room. Mabel got a little anxious from him coming in, since he usually didn't.

"What's up, Grunkle Stan?"

"Well, kid…" he looked nervous to start up the conversation, and rubbed the back of his neck. Mabel looked at him innocently, but feared for the worst. She had a feeling about what was about to come.

"Wh-what is it?" she stammered nervously.

"Well, I talked to Wendy, and…we need to talk."

 **Uh oh. Cliffhanger. But you know what's to come.**

 **I wrote this whole story with my L key off my computer. Do you know how irritating it was to have to write 'Mabel' over and over again -_-**

 **Anyway, once again, reviews are highly appreciated, it would make me soooo happy. Reviews, criticism, suggestions, anything to make my story better would be great.**

 **Next chapter should be up sometimes soon. :)**

 **\- Lylah**


	3. Family Feud

**Omg thank you so much for the great feedback! It made me feel so happy that you guys want me to update the story, I'm so happy you like it :)**

 **Well, here it is, chapter 3. I'm sorry it's been a while since I was on here. After I found out that GF was going to end after Weirdmageddon part 3, I felt like my life was ending. How will we cope!?**

 **Erm. Anyways.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls, and if I did I would be continuing forever. Thanks for ruining my life, Alex Hirsch.**

 **Well, happy reading. :)**

"…We need to talk."

Mabel gulped. "A-about what, Grunkle Stan?" she asked him, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.

"I think you know what about, Mabel." Stan replied, obviously reluctant to proceed the conversation. Mabel just sat there, shifting uncomfortably, as he sat down cross-legged beside her and set his hand on her shoulder.

"Look, kid…I found out what's been going on. Wendy let me in on your…issue. And it's really worrying me."

Mabel looked down in slight anger. "She promised me she wouldn't tell," she grumbled, mostly to herself.

"No, she promised you she wouldn't tell _Dipper_ – she didn't say anything about not telling me," Stan explained to her cautiously.

"Mabel…" he continued with a pause, trying to decide how to start this conversation. He decided to start it off with the one question that was haunting him. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Mabel shrugged, obviously unwilling to open up to her great uncle. She shifted some more.

"C'mon, kid. I want to help you, and so do Wendy and Dipper. But we can't do that unless you tell us what's-"

"If I wanted to talk about it, I would!" She coldly cut him off. "But I obviously don't, so can you just leave me alone!?" She lashed out at him unexpectedly as she got up from her spot on the ground, and faced away from him with her arms stubbornly crossed. Stan sat there on the floor for a moment, stunned at her outburst. He helped himself up with a grunt, and walked towards her.

"I only want to help you," Stan said with hurt in his voice. He set his hand on her shoulder in an attempt of reassurance. "We all do."

"Well I don't need any help," she snapped as she jerked her shoulder away before storming even further from him. Stan sighed, and took this as a signal to leave. He walked towards the door, only stopping at the doorway to give her one last pleading look, which she didn't see, before making his way out. He slowly but surely made his way downstairs one step at a time, greeted by a pacing Wendy at the bottom of the steps.

"Well?" Wendy asked him as soon as he was within hearing distance. "How did it go?"

Stan looked down sadly and shook his head with a sigh. "She didn't want to talk about it…I'd just leave her alone, Wendy," he explained to her when she was about to walk upstairs and make an attempt herself. "She sounded pretty upset that you told me."

"Well, it's not like I broke any promises! Unlike her," she looked up at the ceiling in frustration. "She's lucky I didn't tell Dipper about that."

"Tell me about what?"

Wendy spun around at the familiar, prepubescent voice and knew she needed to work on her speaking volume when she was greeted with the curious face of Dipper Pines. She said nothing, as she knew both the truth and a lie would make the situation even worse, but her silence only intrigued Dipper more.

"So? Are you gonna tell me?"

"I don't think you want to know…" Wendy explained to him while scratching the back of her neck in awkwardness.

"I think I already know what it's about," he said with worry in his voice. When she didn't reply he went ahead and told her his assumption. "Is it Mabel?"

Wendy slowly nodded her head with a sorrowful look on her face when she saw Dipper's facial reaction of pure sadness, right before it turned into slight anger. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked upstairs with squinted eyes. "I'll be back," he said as he quickly walked upstairs

Meanwhile, upstairs, Mabel was just then realizing how ungrateful her behavior was towards her great uncle.

 _He was only trying to help me…_ She told herself. _…But that's not my problem! Wendy shouldn't have told him!_ __She flopped down on her bed groan. _I guess I should apologize, though, even if I'm mad at them…I should at least appreciate that they try._

She was mentally fighting herself for some time, when she heard the door creak open and slam against the wall. She sat up in surprise and saw her brother standing there in the doorway with furrowed eyebrows and a disappointed face.

"Uh, hey bro. Nice to see your friendly face," she said sarcastically, not bothering to flash him even a fake grin.

"Save it, Mabel." he bitterly replied as he walked towards her in an assertive matter. She gave him a surprised and an untruthful confused look.

"Jeez, Dipper, what's your problem?" she asked him with an attitude, starting to getting a little ticked.

"You know exactly what the problem is, Mabel," he accused. "Wendy told me your little secret that you tried to hide from me."

 _Now_ she was pretty ticked. _Screw an apology, I'm not sorry for anything,_ she decided out of pure anger. "Dipper, can we just not do this right now? I already got into an argument with Grunkle Stan, I really don't feel like putting up with this again."

"I don't care, Mabel. You should've expected this. We're gonna talk about this, right here, right now."

Mabel saw how determined her brother was, and didn't bother to argue as she knew it wouldn't get her anywhere. She sighed and crossed her arms, showing him that she was clearly annoyed. But she went with him. "Fine." She said to him.

Dipper immediately confronted her. "Why did you do it again, Mabel? And more importantly, why didn't you tell me?" he asked, obviously disappointed.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd be upset at me, just like you are now," she told him.

"I would've been upset, yeah, but I wouldn't be _as_ upset as I am now if I had found out from you," he pointed a finger at her as he talked. "Besides, that doesn't answer my other question."

"It was just so tempting, Dipper! You wouldn't understand anyway," she said while looking down, not wanting to look him in the eyes.

"Well of course I won't understand if you don't let me in," he tried explaining to her. "Why do you want to do it so bad?"

"I can't just drop it" – she snapped her fingers for demonstration – "like that. You're gonna have to expect some relapses here and there."

She continued when Dipper shot her a half-angry, half-disapproving look when she said to expect more. "Dipper, look. It's kind of like an addiction, in a way. I've been depending on it for so long…it's hard to stop."

Dipper thought for a moment. He considered forgiving her, as he was usually an understanding person, but there were too many hurtful actions that she did that really hurt him.

"I understand that part, I do," he said to her with comfort. "But I'm also upset about you not _only_ trying to hide it from me, but you also broke your promise. We've never broken a promise to each other, Mabel. That really hurt me."

She was feeling guilty, a feeling that she always hated. "I told you that you wouldn't understand. Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's making me feel bad."

"Making _you_ feel bad?" Dipper asked accusingly, getting somewhat irritated. "How do you think it's making _me_ feel? All you ever think about is yourself!"

Mabel was shocked at what he just said to her, and Dipper felt instant guilt as soon as those words came out of his mouth. He could see how terrible that made Mabel feel when he saw her eyes glistening with wetness.

"Mabel, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out-" Mabel left the room and slammed the door behind her before he could finish his sentence. Dipper groan and gave himself a face-palm.

"Great job, Dipper, you just made things worse," he scolded himself. "I should probably give her some time alone before following her."

While Dipper stayed up in the attic, Mabel ran down the steps, right past Wendy and Stan, who were calling after her with no response, and right out the door. She kept running and running until she reached the very center of the forest, where most mysteries always took place.

That's when she let it out, all of the feelings that she kept bottled up inside her. She started to hiccup and sob as she let the tears roll down her face; it seemed like an endless stream that she couldn't control. She let it out along with gasps, cries, and muffled screams. Anything to get her burdening feelings out.

She didn't know exactly why she was crying. Maybe it was because of the guilt Dipper had made her feel, or what he had said to her. Maybe she was just disappointed in herself because of her relapse, or that she felt the others were disappointed as well. She couldn't quite put her finger on the reason why, all she knew was that she greatly needed this little breakdown she was having, as it surprisingly made her feel better.

After a while, she was finally able to calm herself down. She wiped her eyes and her runny nose with her sweater sleeve, not caring if she got anything on it. She sat there, leaning against the tree, as she enjoyed the rare time that she had to herself. Although she didn't always like it, sometimes she needed the isolation.

She looked up at the clouds, but found the treetops blocking most of the sky. She also saw that the sun was setting, and knew it was going to be dark soon. _Might as well go back_ , she thought. _Before they start worrying._

She pushed herself up on her feet, and started walking towards the Mystery Shack, trying to beat the sunset. As it got darker, she walked faster, afraid to be in the woods by herself.

She knew she shouldn't have walked so deep into the woods when the sun set behind the trees. She couldn't see that much far ahead of her, and knew that everyone at The Shack would be worrying about her by now. She tried to stay on the trail that lead her home.

She was still walking when she got the feeling that she wasn't alone anymore. She got frightened, even more frightened than she was when she was alone. Then, she heard the mildly high-pitched voice that made her stomach drop, the voice she had hoped she would never have to hear again.

"Hey, Shooting Star!"

 **So, as you can probably tell, I enjoy cliffhangers.**

 **I know you all probably didn't like the family feud, but that kind of stuff happens. It'll get better, I promise! ;)**

 **I won't take so long to update this time. Like I said before, I'm really happy that you're enjoying the story!**

 **Again, reviews are highly appreciated! :)**

 **-Lylah**


	4. A Visit From Bill

**YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO HAPPY WITH YOUR REVIEWS** **you're the absolute best and most of the reason why I love writing this story!**

 **And now presenting: chapter 4 of Sweater Weather.**

 **Disclaimer: There's not much mentioning of self-harm in this chapter, and I don't own Gravity Falls :'(**

 **Like always, enjoy :)**

 **…**

Mabel stood frozen in shock at the demonic being that was floating before her: Bill Cipher. He was the last person – or, _creature_ – that she expected to run into, and would much rather have Gideon as company over him.

"I would ask you how you've been, but you should know that I already know!" He said to her in a slightly bragging sort of way. "What's got ya so down, Shooting Star?"

"Why would that matter to you?" she tried asking him boldly, although inside she was quivering with fear.

"Well, considering how much we've been through together, I gotta keep my eye on you and Pine Tree!" He exclaimed as he flashed memories of the past few weeks on his triangular figure. Mabel watched the pictures closely and realized that he was showing her the first time she had cut, when Dipper found out what she had done, when she relapsed, and a couple of other flashes that she couldn't quite catch.

Mabel still didn't fully understand why Bill appeared to her. "Okay, but…why are you even here, Bill?" she wondered.

"Allow me to shed some light on the subject!" he said as he made himself light up and glow, bright enough to light up most of the woods, and bright enough to make Mabel shield her eyes from him. She considered running away back home, since she could see her way through the trail now, but of course Bill knew her own thoughts.

"Don't even think about running from me, Shooting Star! You know I can read your mind!" Bill told her. "Besides, you might want to wait until you hear what I have to say."

This made Mabel curious, even though she figured that he probably wasn't up to any good. "What?" she asked him.

"Listen. I can help you with your problem, kid," he said to her. "Would ya like that?"

"Well, yeah…but I don't know if I want help from you," she said cautiously.

"I think I can make you change your mind about that, Shooting Star."

Mabel stood there for a few moments, debating whether or not she should ask Bill about what he had in mind to "help" her. So Bill pressed on.

"Listen, kid, I know you don't trust me. I know we've had our differences with me trying to control your uncle and possess your brother or whatever, but that's all in the past now! No matter how much has happened, I'm still concerned about ya."

Mabel scoffed. "I don't believe that, Bill."

"Why else would I be here?"

"Probably because you want to trick me into making some deal with you. Again."

"Hey, don't make any assumptions!" He pointed his finger at her to make sure she would listen to him, and it surely silenced her. No matter how much she tried to cover it up, she still had a strong fear of Bill, and he knew that.

"Ready to hear what I have in mind for ya?" he asked her excitedly. Since Mabel feared Bill so much, she didn't want to say no to him, but she couldn't say yes either. So she just stood there, and of course Bill took her silence as a yes.

"I can make all of this chaos go away with a snap of my fingers, if you wanted! Would you want that?"

Mabel just stood there, now interested in what he had to say. Staring off into the distance, she slowly and bashfully nodded her head.

"Of course you would, and I can do that for you! In fact, let's start off with these!" He said as he pointed a finger directed towards her as her sweater sleeves rolled up by his control. She was about to protest when, right in front of her, each of her cuts started to disappear, one by one. Astonished, she rubbed her now clean arms where her scars used to be. She looked up at Bill.

"What's the catch, Bill?" she responded with squinted eyes at him, wondering what in the world he had in mind for her.

"No catch, Shooting Star! It's all on me!"

Mabel gave him a half-eyed look with raised eyebrows, making sure he knew that she didn't believe him. "No catch? At all? _Really_?"

"Nope! You have my word, Shooting Star." He offered his hand, ignited in his signature blue flame, to seal the deal. But Mabel was hesitant, and knew better. She shook her head and slowly backed away from him.

"No," she gave him her final answer. "I'm not dumb, Bill. I know when you've got something up your sleeve!"

"News flash, kid: I don't have any sleeves!" He extended his arms and cockily laughed at the frightened look on her face. "I'm basically open book!"

Mabel scoffed. "Ha! That's a lie if I ever heard one," she said as Bill gave her a false look of innocence. "Anyways, my answer is no. But could you keep the trail lit so I can see my way home?" She asked as she started back home before she found Bill right back in front of her, as if she never moved.

"I'll just walk ya home instead! Gotta make sure you don't hurt yourself again, am I right?" he said as he started following her home. Mabel just sighed an irritated sigh and walked right through him.

"Not funny, Bill."

"Hey, lighten up a little! Besides, it wasn't a joke. Like I said before, I gotta keep my _eye_ on you!" he replied, emphasizing the 'eye' part, while Mabel rolled both of hers.

"Why do you even care? Or should I say _act_ like you care?" She asked him.

"It's no act! You'll figure that out, Shooting Star," he said as they neared The Mystery Shack, "if you accept my deal."

"No, Bill!" Mabel raised her voice. "I'm not falling for whatever scandalizing plan you have for me! You're probably gonna make me give you my soul or sacrifice Waddles! _You can't have my Waddles!_ " she practically yelled at him.

"Whoa whoa whoa, kid, turn it down a notch!" He hushed her as the attic light turned on inside. "I don't want your pig!"

"Then what _do_ you want?"

"For you to think about my offer!" He said gleefully while rising up in the air above her. "You won't regret it, Shooting Star!" And, with a flash of burning light, he was gone; just as Dipper walked outside to investigate the commotion, only to find his sister standing out in the night, staring at the sky.

"Mabel?! Where have you- …What are you looking at?" He questioned as he ran out beside her and following her gaze up into the stars.

Mabel just stood there for a moment, dazed, before she finally made up her excuse. "I was just stargazing. It's pretty, right? Hey look, it's the Big Dipper! But it's not as big as your birthmark, huh?" She laughed.

He ignored her joke and went straight to scolding her. "Mabel, do you have any idea what time it is? We've been up all night worrying about you!"

 _All night?_ She mentally repeated. _Wow, that talk with Bill must've taken longer than I thought it did_.

She had no choice but to follow her twin when he took her by the wrist and dragged her inside, entering a room full of worried people.

"Dude, where have you been?" "We were all worried _sick_ about you!" "You can't just run off like that, kid!"

Mabel looked at the three faces that cowered over her and didn't know how to explain her disappearance. She decided to go along with most of the truth, and made sure to leave out the part involving her encounter with Bill.

"Look, guys, I just needed some time to myself, so I went into the woods. I must've stayed out there too late, 'cause I lost the trail on the way back here." _Good enough_.

"Well, at least you're back home now," Soos said with a content smile, and they all lightened up on her a little bit.

"Just don't run off out of nowhere like that anymore, Mabel," Stan sternly told her.

"Don't worry, Grunkle Stan, I won't!" She promised him as her and Dipper made her way back upstairs to their bedroom. As soon as they entered the room, Dipper shut the door walked up to Mabel. Without explanation, he grabbed her arm and attempted to yank up her sweater sleeve, right before Mabel had stopped him.

"Whoa hey there, bro. What are you doing?" She pulled her arm back from him.

"Checking your arms," he said bluntly as he reached for her arm once more, when she pulled back again. "I didn't do anything, Dipper," she told him, trying to find a way out of showing him the scars that were no longer there, thanks to Bill. "Just believe your sister for once."

"Okay, okay, I believe you…just let me check," he quickly said and dived for her sweater sleeve, this time beating her to it. She grumbled as he yanked it up and examined the scars that covered her arm all around, both old and new, but didn't see any fresh ones. He nodded in satisfaction once he inspected the other arm, and then pulled both her sleeves down. "Good," he said.

Mabel tried to hide her confusion. "Yeah…" she agreed with him, wondering why they were back on her arm. It didn't make sense to her.

Dipper broke her of her thoughts. "Anyway, Mabel, I wanted to finish our talk from earlier." Mabel looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, making it clear that she didn't want to continue the conversation. "Dipper, that's why I ran away last time. I really don't-"

"Mabel, just let me finish. Please."

Mabel then had a decent feeling about this conversation, and obliged. "Alright," she agreed.

"Thank you," he said gratefully. Then he continued.

"Look, Mabel, I'm sorry for earlier. You know I didn't mean what I said, right?" Mabel only slightly nodded, still indicating that she was still a little upset about it. "You're like, one of the nicest people I know. Really. And I understand if you won't forgive me for a while."

When she didn't reply, he said, "I'm just worried about you, but I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I should have been more understanding about it." He rubbed the back of his neck. "And you were right about me not understanding about how you feel. I don't know how you feel, and I never will. I just hope you forgive me."

"Of course, bro-bro!" To his surprise, she tackled him in a giant hug. "As long as you understand my feelings, I'll understand yours."

He returned the hug and smiled. "Deal," he said as they broke away from each other. "But don't think this means you won't be under my surveillance anymore, 'cause you still are! Now even more than before," he said, chuckling, as he climbed up into his bed after he pulled off his socks and shoes. He laughed about it, even though he wasn't really joking. Either way, Mabel didn't want her brother even _more_ up her tail now. But I guess she didn't really have a choice.

…Or did she? She looked over at Dipper, who was now taking off his hat and putting it on his bedpost, and thought about Bill. She thought about his offer for her, and wondered what exactly he would do to change things. She knew it wouldn't be the smartest idea to get Bill involved in her issues, but then again, she knew shouldn't couldn't make the problem go away herself.

"Goodnight, Mabel." Dipper's voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked over at him to see him giving her a loving grin. "Love you." She smiled back at him.

"Goodnight, Dip," she happily said back to her brother. "I love you, too." Dipper yawned and turned over on his side, facing away from her, and Mabel did the same; only she stayed awake for what seemed like hours.

 _I don't know what to do,_ Mabel silently thought over and over again. _I don't want help from Bill, but if he can fix things for me, what else can I do? But then everyone else…who knows what could happen?_

She threw a pillow over her face and stifled an irritated groan. She decided that she might as well just sleep on it and choose later. She pulled the covers over her head and sighed, knowing she probably didn't have much time to make her decision. She figured Bill will probably get inside her head and visit her in her dreams tonight, and try to convince her to accept his offer. She'll just have to pay attention and be careful.

That sleepless night, Mabel spent it twisting and turning in her blankets, mumbling to her stuffed animals, and trying to prepare for the dream demon that was sure to invade her mind tonight.

…

 **I tried. I really did. I really wanted to add Bill in the story somehow, but I had no idea how he would tie in with the plot, so I ran into some writer's block.**

 **Before I go any further, I would like someone to maybe private message me some ideas on where you think Bill could take this story? I have a couple of ideas but nothing for sure. So if you have any ideas then suggestions would be GREAT right now. If not, I'll figure it out ;)**

 **Review and tell me what you think :) I hope you liked it.**

 **-Lylah**


	5. Mabel's Dream

**I'm back! I was trying not to take so long with writing but writer's block just attacked me and left me for dead. I think I got it all sorted out though ;)**

 **Well, here's chapter…5, I think? Let's just go with 5.**

 **Disclaimer: Unless I'm Alex Hirsch undercover, I don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Happy reading :)**

…

That night, Mabel tossed and turned in her sleep – after she was finally able tofall asleep. Before, she was anticipating the invasion of the dreaded Dorito demon, unable to drift off, while now, she was perfectly content in her dreamland; she had just been crowned queen of all mystical creatures, given her own golden staff, and even earned her very own sparkly fairy wings. The royal unicorns were just about to arrive to congratulate her from thesilky, white clouds, when they suddenly turned into storm clouds. Lightening had struck beneath them, and Mabel's belovedunicorns and fairy friends flew away in fear.

Mabel's wings had evaporated into thick, black smoke before shattering, leaving her to fall onto the grass. She looked up to see a bright crack in the now dark sky, in the shape of a cross, and a figure slowly and dramatically emerging from the opening above. Her eyes were finally able to make a form of this being as it floated closer, finding it to be the one creature she had expected a visit from: Bill.

"Sweet dreams, Shooting Star! It's a shame I had to ruin it for ya," he said in fake sympathy as he neared her.

"Ah, Bill! Just the evil isosceles I was expecting to see!" She was feeling rather confident in her fairy crown and golden staff, all in the comfort of her own dream, where she at least had some control. However, Bill only took amusement in this.

"Yep, I'm here, short stack. Just like I said I'd be," he said with a roll of his eye and a smirk in his voice. "Have ya thought anymore about my offer?"

Mabel then remembered the whole reason of Bill visited her in the first place. She had thought only a little bit of his deal before exploring her mindscape on rainbow-riding unicorns. She stood there with her hand on her chin, still debating on accepting Bill's offer or not. Her heart started to thud a little faster when she saw that he was getting slightly impatient.

"C'mon, Shooting Star, make a choice! I've got minds to invade, dreams to control, bodies to possess!" He counted off his 'to-do' list on his three fingers while Mabel crossed her arms and sighed.

"I dunno, Bill…what _exactly_ is it that you're offering?" She inquired him, hoping she was asking the right questions.

"I can make your entire family and friends forget about your little incidents!" Bill explained to her. "The whole situation, all the way back to day one, as if it never even happened."

Mabel perked up a bit. "Like it never happened?" She repeated, not yet knowing what to think.

"Yep!" He confirmed. "Sounds like a dream come true, right? All this stress on you, bringing you down, _gone_ with a snap of my fingers. Nobody remembers _anything!_ " The way he put it _did_ make it sound like a dream come true to her, as he always knew the right words to say. "So whaddya say, Shooting Star?"

Mabel started biting on her nails in debate on what to decide. She was trying to think of pros and cons to agreeing, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized she couldn't think of any cons to it. To her, it would be as if nothing had ever happened. Everybody wouldn't be hovering over her all the time, always asking questions and worrying about her. She wouldn't have to feel the disappointment of her brother burdening her, and could avoid getting triggered by it. Everything would be back to normal between Dipper, Wendy, and Stan; it would be as if she had never started to self-harm in the first place.

Slowly, she nodded her head, even though her entire gut feeling was going against it. "Alright, Bill," she said as she looked up at Bill in bravery. "I accept your offer."

"I knew you couldn't resist it!" Bill said with a delighted laugh as he enflamed his hand in a light blue fire. He held it out to her to seal the deal. Mabel hesitating before raising her arm, knowing she shouldn't be doing this. She shouldn't be making a deal with Bill Cipher, the demon who put her friends and family in danger time after time again.

She reached out towards his hand and grasped her hand around his, trying to stop her entire arm from shaking with nervousness. A light between them started and grew bigger until it burst in a bright flash and disappeared, making it official.

"It has been done!" Bill said happily as he raised himself up in the air. "Come morning, it will be like your family never knew about your cutting issue." Mabel winced as he said this, not liking it to be used in _that_ term. But it was true either way, and she was just happy that she didn't have to deal with the family drama anymore. All the chaos of her family knowing her secret…gone. It sounded too good to be true.

"Ever heard of the phrase 'be careful what you wish for'?" Bill suddenly asked her out of nowhere. Mabel only blinked, puzzled at this question.

"Yeah…why?"

"Just keep that in mind in the future. You'll thank me later!" He said as he floated up, preparing to depart.

"Wait, Bill! What do you mean?" She yelled up to him as she attempted to follow him.

"You'll find out soon enough!" He said as he stopped up in the sky, looming over her. "But for now, just remember…reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold BYE!"

And suddenly, with that, the demonic triangle was gone with a burning flash of light in the sky, returned to his own dimension. Mabel just stood there, staring up at the sky, confused at what he meant and suddenly worried that she had made the wrong decision.

"What the heck did I just do…" She asked herself in disbelief as she started running her fingers through her hair, something she always does when she thinks. She started pacing back and forth on her sparkly dream grass. "I just made a deal with a manipulative dream demon, that's what the heck I just did…" She answered herself, panic rising in her voice. "Why would I be this stupid? I'm smart enough to figure this out by myself! I didn't need his help," she just decided even though she knew it was too late.

Then, the unicorns that had flew away when Bill arrived came flying back down from the clouds, distracting Mabel from her worrying thoughts. Just looking at their friendly faces and soft, colorful mane almost instantly calmed her down and made her want to enjoy the rest of her dream.

"Oh well. Might as well get back to what I was doing," she shrugged it off as she walked towards her favorite blue unicorn with a silver and ruby studded saddle and helped herself up on it. "Let's go, Daisy! To the castle, away!" She held up her fist dramatically as the unicorn neighed in response and started flapping her wings to fly back to the castle. Mabel had forgotten about what happened until she woke up, too busy being her own dreamland royalty.

Some hours later, Mabel's internal alarm clock had woken her up from her fairytale dreams. Slowly, she peeked her eyes open, one at a time, to let them adjust to the light. A few minutes later when she was fully woken up, she looked around the room to notice Dipper's empty bed and messy sheets. She glanced to the clock; 11:34. She usually didn't sleep in this late, as Dipper normally woke her up to have some sort of adventure.

She hopped out of bed and onto the floor, making her way towards her dresser. She opened the top drawer and picked out the first sweater she saw, which happened to be her shooting star one. She moved on to the next drawer to pull out her matching purple skirt.

When she lifted her nightdress up and off, though, is when she realized what was missing on her body. Her arms, legs, and stomach were completely clean without a single cut or scar to be seen on them. She was astonished; Bill really _had_ helped her out. She smiled, satisfied, and pulled the sweater over her head, onto her body, and did the same for her skirt. She slipped on her shoes and walked towards the door, making her way downstairs and into the kitchen, where the rest of her family were sitting.

She neared the table and observed what they all were doing; Dipper was reading and making edits and additions to one of the journals, as usual, while gulping down mouthfuls of his favorite cereal. Stan was reading the newspaper and finishing his bacon while his twin brother, Ford, was tinkering with one of his many inventions.

"Good morning, everybody!" She gleefully said as she skipped up towards the table full of people…who completely ignored her. She stood there with furrowed eyebrows, and hit her fists on the table. "Hey! I said _good morning!_ " She demanded their attention.

They all looked up from what they were doing, surprised. Dipper was the one that broke the silence.

"Uh…good morning, Mabel," he eyed her as he set down his pencil. Everybody else mumbled their greetings. "Glad you finally woke up."

" _You're_ the one who didn't wake me up like you usually do, dummy!" She playfully accused him as she snatched the last piece of bacon from her uncle's plate before he noticed.

"What?" he asked. "I never wake you up. You're usually up by the time I'm up," he told her. "Have you been playing with the copy machine again?" he joked, as Stan lowered his newspaper and raised an eyebrow.

"No, you've been waking me up every day for past few weeks!" She tried to remind him. When he gave her a confused look, she was about to question her sanity, when she had just remembered the night before with Bill. _Maybe he did this,_ she thought logically.

"You know- nevermind. Those were probably just dreams or something," she brushed it off with a silly grin. Dipper only shrugged and finished his bowl of cereal, closed the journal and got up from the table, before tucking his journal in its usual spot and walking outside the door.

"Jeez, is he okay?" she asked Stan, her eyes following Dipper out the window

"Hm? Oh, yeah, probably busy stalking Wendy. Don't ya have a scrapbook to be making, or something?" Stan shortly replied, not even bothering to look up from his paper.

Whoa. Now Stan was shoving her out of his space? This was normal a while back, yeah, but lately Stan has been all about family time. He always liked having the kids around, but even more so when he found out about Mabel's problem… _Wait,_ she thought with realization. _He doesn't know about the cutting anymore, so maybe he doesn't want to spend as much time with me…_ she sadly realized.

"I dunno, I was thinking maybe we could do something together? Have some good 'ole grunkle/niece bonding?" Mabel offered him, using jazz hands for emphasis.

"Kid, I've got a business to run. Now go run around outside with your brother," he said as he brushed past her, carrying his empty plate to this sink. She looked down at her feet and walk towards the door when Stan added, "By the way, if you steal any more bacon from me, you're grounded." Mabel smirked to herself and walked out of the shack. _Maybe he's just having a bad day,_ she told herself.

She looked for Dipper when she walked out, and saw he was bashfully approaching Wendy, who was smirking down at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted them gleefully. "What's up?"

"Not much," Dipper plainly replied. Wendy didn't reply.

"Well, what are you doing today?" Mabel asked curiously, hoping he wouldn't be too busy for her like everyone else seemed to be.

"Probably just taking more notes in the journal," he told her as he missed Mabel's face fall. "I got more information on the demons Bill brought out in our realm. Mainly Pyronica," he told her as he took out the journal and opened it up to show her. Inside the page was a poorly-drawn sketch of the pink and fiery one-eyed monster, next to some notes he took about her.

"'Weakness…water'?" She read aloud. "Really?"

"It's just a theory," he explained. "But I would like to work alone today, though, so I can concentrate better," he gave her a sympathetic smile. "Is that okay?"

"Oh, yeah, that's fine," she faked an understanding smile. "I'll just see what Soos is up to today," she said as she turned around to walk back to The Mystery Shack to look for her older friend. She glanced back, and happened to catch her brother walking off with Wendy by his side, a big grin in his face. _So much for wanting to work alone today,_ she thought, feeling betrayed. _What's going on with everybody?_

She opened the door to The Shack as the bell rang, announcing her entrance. The main room was completely empty, so she decided to roam the halls and look for somebody to spend some time with. She walked down the hallway, peeking in each room she passed. It wasn't until the 3rd room when she spotted Soos, changing a busted light bulb.

"Hey, Soos," she greeted as she came in the room. "You busy?"

"Just a little bit," he told her, not breaking eye contact with what he was doing. "I'm pretty busy today."

"Oh," she replied with, looking down sadly. "Not even later?"

"Nope," he said, not even a little interest in his voice. "Sorry, kiddo."

"It's all good," she moped as she left the room. "Why doesn't anyone want to be around me today?" She asked herself, thinking she wouldn't get an answer, when she thought about Bill once again. _This definitely has something to do with him,_ she decided. _Hopefully he'll come tonight so I can talk to him about this._

Little did she know that it would be a while before Bill came to check up on her, forcing her to deal with what used to be her loving family. Over time, she realized that Bill's offer for her only made her worse, and she was determined to make it right again.

 **…**

 **I feel like this chapter was kinda rushed, mainly towards the ending, but you know. I was just trying to scrap something up for you guys. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **I got my best friends to start reading it on here, too. They know who they are. Love you guys!**

 **Like always, reviews, criticism, all that good stuff is appreciated :)**

 **Until next time,**

 **-Lylah**


	6. A Scandalizing Scheme

**Wow, I'm so sorry about how long it took to update this story! I've been jammed with other crap going on, school and life are just throwing me in every direction possible. But, I'm finally back!**

 **So, I think there's only going to be one more chapter in this story, maybe two, depending on how it goes. Either way, I hope you like how it turns out!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls or GF characters, all those rightfully belong to Alex Hirsch, the one and only.**

 **Happy reading!**

…

It's been a month since Mabel's last visit from Bill Cipher, and she couldn't have been any lonelier. Her friends and family have been acting like they want nothing to do with her; Dipper and Ford have been spending the majority of their time working in the basement – even eating meals down there – or Dipper was hanging around Wendy. Soos had been brushing her off every time she asks to hang out, as he always seems to have something to do lately. Stan did nothing but watch TV and manipulate and convince customers into buying some makeshift attempt of a mythical creature that didn't exist. But sometimes, like right now, Mabel would peek out her window to find all of them outside together. Talking and laughing without her. And that's what bothered her the most.

She looked out her window for about the 5th time in despair, all of them hanging out outside. She didn't bother to try to join them anymore, as they always separate soon after she comes out. She felt her eyes water up as the thought about her family not wanting her anymore, and wiped them before she let herself cry.

"I don't understand…" she mumbled to herself. "This has to be Bill. He said he would make things better for me, why did he do this?"

She suddenly felt the urge to restart the habit that got her in this whole situation in the first place. To her, in that moment, self-harm sounded like the answer to everything. The more she thought, the lonelier she felt, and almost couldn't bare it anymore. She knew it would be stupid of her to give in to cutting again; that will just start the cycle all over. There has to be _some_ way to reverse this, right?

Mabel started pacing back and forth in her room, trying to replace her negative thoughts with logical thinking. She had to fix this.

"I can't take this, I miss the family that cares about me," she whined quietly to herself. "I need to get Bill to come here somehow, and he won't show up in my dreams…" she said as she tried to fit the pieces together. Then she had an idea. _I wonder…_

Her eyes darted around the room, mainly scanning the bookcases, then glanced out the window again. They were all still outside laughing, but now walking towards the front door. She patiently waited on her bed for the downstairs bell to ring, and heard everybody scuttle to their usual spots in the shack; and just as she had hoped, Dipper was walking upstairs.

"Hey, Dip!" Mabel gleefully greeted him as soon as he opened the door. "Whatcha been doin' today?"

"Not that much," he replied, not even pausing to look at her as he spoke. Instead, he went straight to his backpack that was on his bed, and pulled out a red book - no, _three_ red books from inside the bag. _The journals._

Mabel knew this was her chance once Dipper set the books on the dresser and went back to his bag. She put her plan into action, and hoped she would also get some answers of out this.

"Hey, Dipper. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he replied with no interest, still rummaging through his backpack.

"Do you love me?"

Dipper stopped what he was doing and slowly turned to face his sister, clearly surprised at her question. "What?"

"Do you love me," she asked again, looking down while fiddling with her fingers.

"You're my sister. Of course I love you, Mabel."

"Do you care about me?"

"Yes, I care about you," he replied as if it was obvious. "Why are you asking me this?"

"You've been so distant lately, and you've been blowing off spending time with me but you're _always_ around someone else," she said as she faked a sniffle to make it more believable, although talking about it did make small tears form from the corner of her eyes. "It's like you don't even want me around anymore."

"Aw, Mabes," he said with a half-sad smile, although with not much sympathy in his voice. He put his hand on her shoulder as reassurance, but to Mabel, it didn't feel sincere. It didn't feel like the touch of her brother that was usually always there to comfort her. "You know that's not true."

All she did was sit there and slightly nod, before asking, "Does that mean you'll spend more time with me?"

Dipper's expression suddenly shifted from fake sympathy to slight awkwardness. It was clear to her that he wanted to say no.

"Well, I actually can't right now. Ford and I have a project we're working on down in the basement," he explained his excuse to her as he turned back around to zip up his backpack and sling it over his shoulders. "But I'll be back up here later, okay?"

"Yeah, alright," she mumbled mainly to herself as he left the room. She sighed; that was more disappointing than she thought it would be. She knew Dipper all too well to think that he was acting this way without being under the influence of something – or someone – else. As much as that conversation hurt her, though, at least she got what she wanted out of it.

She looked over at the dresser and smirked, glad her plan had worked. She needed to distract Dipper enough to make him forget to pick the journals back up, and that's exactly what she did. She had limited time, though, and knew she had to act fast.

She picked up the journals one by one, flipping through the pages to find a particular shape. She frantically looked through #1 and #3, and finally found him while looking through #2. It was Bill Cipher, the one being she needed the most right now. She examined the page and found the content she needed: how to summon the demon. She was about to read it when she heard petite footsteps on the floor below, leading to the staircase. Dipper.

She set journals #1 and #3 back on the dresser, but shoved journal #2 under her pillow, making sure it was fully hidden. She grabbed a magazine from the bookcase beside her, and had just enough time to make it look like she'd been laying there for a while, just as he walked through the door.

He didn't even say hello as he strolled across the room towards the dresser. It wasn't until he picked up the journals when he realized that one was missing. He scanned the room, and patted down his vest pockets, yet found it nowhere.

"Mabel, have you seen the second journal?" he asked her as he checked under the bed.

"No," she replied in a monotone, flipping through the pages of her magazine. "It's probably in the basement under some sciencey junk."

"It's not down there, I already checked," he said back, a little panic rising in his voice as he searched his room. "Twice."

"Well, maybe you dropped it outside?" She suggested to him, for once wanting him to leave the room. After all, she had business to take care of.

"I doubt it. You're _sure_ you haven't seen it around?"

"Positive."

He looked around the room one last time before leaving with a disappointed frown. "Well, tell me if you happen to see it," he said as he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Mabel let out a sigh of anxiety as soon as she heard the doorknob click shut. She picked up her killer lying skills from her Grunkle Stan, as she observed him at his mischievous talent every day. She still hated lying to her family – and in general – but she knew it was for the best at the moment. After all, how was she going to pull this off without being a little sneaky?

She pulled the red and gold book from underneath her pillow and set it on her lap, opening it up to the bookmarked page: summoning Bill. She silently read the instructions to the invoking spells, recalling the times she, Dipper, and Soos performed Bill-related spells like these on Stan when Bill had traveled into his mind. She hoped things wouldn't be as chaotic this time.

After reviewing the given instructions, she closed the book shut with a thud, knowing what she had to do. She was going to call Bill to her and demand her family back. _This is going to work. It has to,_ she assured her nervous brain trying to fill her with doubt. _I'm not backing out of this,_ she mentally told herself, and decided she was going to leave at midnight.

She slid the journal back in its hiding spot under the pillow, making sure it was hidden. She hopped off of her bed and looked back outside and saw that nobody was out there. She turned around and walked towards the door before twisting the knob open and walking down the stairs. She passed everybody up in the house – Soos in the kitchen, Stan in the living room, Wendy in the store, and Dipper and Ford probably in the basement – before walking out the front door without a word. She walked towards the trail in silence, wondering how to spend these next few hours by herself.

…

Eventually, dusk had finally arrived, while Mabel was in deep exploration of the forest. She had wandered to the magical landing where her, Wendy, Candy, and Grenda met (and fought) those unicorns. She picked up a crystal that was implanted in the ground and smiled, remembering that day with the girls. They all bonded so much that day, and had so much fun together. She wished she could have that day back.

The darkening sky disrupted her from her memories, reminding her that she had to get home. She dropped the crystal in her pocket and turned around towards the trail that led her there. She walked swiftly, being sure to beat the sun this time. The sky was barely lit by the time she had reached The Mystery Shack, meaning she had made it home just in time.

She swung open the front door with a ring of the bell, and saw nobody. She heard familiar noises coming from the living room. She recognized those noises from her favorite murder-mystery TV show: _Duck-Tective._ It made her a little upset that they were watching what they knew was her favorite show without her, but she also wasn't very surprised; she was used to these kinds of things now.

She passed everyone in the living room, not even stopping to greet them, and made her way back up the stairs and into her bedroom. She glanced at the clock that hung on her wall: 9:09. Duck-Tective should be over at 9:30, meaning Dipper would be up here and in bed within an hour.

Mabel sighed, knowing she had at least thirty more minutes to kill by herself. So she reached and pulled out Journal #2 from under her pillow, flipping it back open to the page she left off. She skimmed the page again, making sure she had everything she needed in her already-packed backpack underneath her bed.

 _Six candles and a lighter, a picture of me, salt... yep, that's everything,_ Mabel mentally checked off her list. Everything needed to be absolutely perfect; as simple as it looks, it's actually a very dangerous ritual. Not to mention that she would be performing the entire ritual on her own; one slip-up and you could find yourself trapped in the Mindscape. Dipper was usually the one leading her during these sort of things, but she would just have to figure it out for herself this time.

She felt herself yawn and forbid herself to get tired, while Dipper walked into the bedroom. He tiredly opened the door and kicked it shut behind him, and immediately started walking towards the bed. His sluggish demeanor showed that he had a long and tiring day, and planned on ending it soon. He plopped down face-first, unmoving for a few moments. Mabel had thought he fell asleep like that when he sprung up, wiping the corner of his mouth. Mabel giggled at him.

"Tired, Dipper?" She inferred with a raised eyebrow.

"Mhm," Dipper groggily replied as he rubbed his eyes. _This will be easy,_ Mabel thought as she hid a smirk.

Dipper got up and walked towards the dressing, pulling off his t-shirt and vest on his way over there. He opened his pajama drawer and pulled out his favorite light blue pair. He tugged off his shorts and pulled the cozy pants over his legs, before putting the matching shirt on. He rubbed his eye again with a yawn and said, "You know, I still never found journal #2." He walked over to the other bed.

"I don't know where you could have put it," Mabel replied, starting to feel a little nervous. She bit her lip.

Dipper just gave a shrug and said, "Whatever, I'm too tired right now." He hung his hat on the bedpost and jumped back into his bed, flipping off his lamp switch. Now sitting silent in the dark, Mabel waited for him to say something else, unless he was already going to sleep. When he was quiet for a few moments, Mabel said what she assumed her brother wouldn't.

"Goodnight, Dipper. Love you," she called over to her twin on the other side of the room. There was a shuffle in the sheets before she heard, "Night, Mabel. Love you too," as a faint reply. Mabel sighed and laid on her back, feeling the book cover against the back of her head, reminding her of what she had to do. Dipper was really tired tonight, so she probably wouldn't have to wait too long.

She laid there for about an hour, mentally acting out her plan to sneak out. She decided the best way out was the back door, as it lacked an entrance bell and didn't creak as much when opened. The only thing was that she had to walk right past Stan's room, which was a problem because she had no idea how Stan occupied his late-hour free time. Or he could be watching TV in the living room, where she would also have to walk past during her escape.

She listened for any noises, and her ears picked up Dipper's heavy breaking from across the room, slowly escalating to faint snores. She figured that was a good time to make her leave.

She sat up in her bed and reached under the pillowcase for the journal. Once she had it, she silently slipped off of her bed and landed on her tip toes before lowing herself to her own height. She slowly started walking towards the door, one step at a time, when Dipper suddenly shifted in his sleep. His sudden movement made Mabel tense up, but she relaxed when his body began its steady pace once again, knowing she had nothing to worry about.

Twisting the doorknob as quietly she could, she pulled open door enough to where she could barely slip in between the crack and squeeze right through, exiting out the other side. Once she shut the door was a muffled click, she breathed a sigh of relief, yet knew she had more challenges to face. Next challenge: creaky stairs.

She stared down the stairs at the top step, peering into the depths below. She listened for noises once again, yet heard nothing, so she started to make her descend. She gently pressed her foot on the first step down, wincing as the creak echoed in the hallway. She paused before starting again, going faster and lighter so each creak was quick and faint.

Now on the first floor, she looked to her left and found her target: the back door. She started tip-toeing down the hallway, pausing to check the living room for her great uncle. She peered around the corner, and saw that Stan had fallen asleep in his chair with the television on mute. He was facing her direction, which meant if Mabel made any noise while sneaking past, he'd wake up and plant his eyes right on her.

Ever so carefully, she tip-toed past the living room doorway. Her foot landed on a particularly squeaky floorboard, as she stepped down and winced as the creak echoed throughout the wooden shack. She look over at Stan and froze when he started to shuffle around. He was mumbling something in between snores, before shooting up in his seat, eyes wide open.

 _"MABEL!"_

She gasped as her eyes were locked on her uncle, his eyes giving her a blank stare that seemed to go right through her. Something wasn't right.

"Stop putting glitter in my coffee! That's not sugar!" Stan yelled to nobody before slumping back into his chair, snoring away.

Mabel muffled a giggle before walking past the doorway, surely safe from waking up her uncle. "Sorry, Grunkle Stan," she mumbled to herself. "Even in your sleep you can't escape my glittery wrath." She grinned to herself.

She finally made it to the back door, but didn't stop there. She held her breath as she twisted the knob and opened the door, not breathing in air until she was safely outside on the porch. Once outside, she let the held-in air escape her throat, before inhaling fresh air. She smiled in self-satisfaction before she realized the extra weight in her left hand. She looked down and found herself still holding the journal; she had been so focused on sneaking out without getting caught that she forgot her mission in the first place. The golden, six-fingered hand reflected in the moonlight, shining in Mabel's eyes. She lowered the book to look out into her surroundings, which was only the forest. Gulping, she took her first step out into the woods.

…

 **I tried making this chapter longer since I took soooo long to update. Again, my apologies! I won't take so long this next (or last) chapter, I promise!**

 **I hope I didn't lose any readers because of my absence. I love all of your support! You only have to deal with me for one more chapter.**

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated, like always :) or criticism. Whatever works!**

 **Until chapter 7,**

 **-Lylah**


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